St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-12-15
Gte Galedonialt.
ohnsbury, Vt, Thursday. Dec. IS. 1887
RUSSIAN FRUIT TREES.
THAT DIR. HOsl<ins Thinks About The
AdaptabIlity to Vermont.

an inquiry of a Caledonia county
kader, DIR. Hoskins tells what he
hows in regard to the pears of north
Astern Europe, trees and ciODs OF
hich were brought to this country,
long with those of many new kinds of
bples, plums, cherries, and other val
hble trees and plants, in 1888, when
fof. Joseph l.. Budd and Charles
bb started on genealogical trip to
brtheastern Europe in company.
heir chief object was to study the
fuits of that region, which are almost
htirely unknown to the rest of the
Orld.
1t seems that when the cold North
lest began to be settled, the pioneers
BON discovered, i'm Iowa and Mime
pta, that the common apples of the
last would not endure the winters
here. During series of moderate
bars, the planted orchards might at
in considerable growth, and even be-
lime productive of fruit bat one of
hat they now call the "test winters"
You'd destroy every orchard in the
tate. In the midst of these disasters,
was noticed that the Russian apples,
htroduced in this country 40 years
20, survived the trial, and remained
spared monuments" in the midst of
idespTead ruin. This led the Mime
ota genealogical society to ask the
eneral government To import II cOllec-
pm of the best apples of Russia. This
Is done. In the fall of 1869 young
pes and ciOns of nearly two hundred
Arieties were received, and distribut-
through the country by the depart
lent of agriculture, but these were
It to Tom, Dick and Harry, North
Id South, without sense or system,
lstead of placing their ut the disposal
f the organized societies through |
hose request 1hey were imported. !
HE consequence, of this was, that fully |
EO-t thirds of them were practically |
st, but among those %hich "fell upon
bod ground" enough were found to
love the great wisdom of the original
DUPLICATION. This experience led to the
rther investigation involved in the |
petition of Messrs. Budd and Glib.
'nOugh has been learned to prove that |
&pples of the very best quality i'll their
easOn were to be had in Russia, and
BE- needs of SO large section of
merica for just such trees, gave
pwerful stimulus to the desire for a
II study of the subject. Messrs. |
udd and Gibbs returned with full |
|bllectiOn, not only of apples, but also
other tree fruits, not forgetting to
lake collections of many valuable and
ornamental trees and shrubs not here
3fOre known in America.
81 AS to the Russian and Polish pears
r. HOskins says We have on trial
bout dozen kinds. 1t is very for
mate that the two best kinds, accord
Z to their report, are proving very
ardy. All of them, with possibly an
Reception or two, are harder than the
=Ardiest pears hitherto known in
merica, and can be grown in nine
enths of Vermont, New Hampshire
nd Maine, if not in the whole. The
lyO sorts of which we have given the
bngest trial, and which seem the most
uccessful, are Bessemianka and Sapie-
anka. The first is fine, free, up
light grower, the young trees looking
Utmost like young LOmbardy pOplars,
Ind some of them are already nearly
ght feet in height. The two coolest
finters we have ever seen, 1875 and
bS6-7, did not seem to injure Besse-
hianka a particle, and only slightly
ipped a few of the others. The same
Einters killed to the ground line all
about ten or twelve) of the hardest
previously known pears on our place
he first of these winters killing trees
tx or eight years old, and the last one
hn thnt
+hem. Sapieganka is the reverse of
$essemianka in its habit of growth,
BEING low branching and irregular
grower, but it can be made tOlerably
Upright by proper pruning and stalk
.bg. We suspect, however, that this
.iriety would do best top grated up
IN mountain ash, upon which most
BEARS succeed quite we'll, and bear
tpung.
AS to quality, the Russian pears
hive not borne in America, and we
ave no information other than that
iven by the gentleman who imported
+lIem. Mr.. Glib was sharply interrO-
lated on this point at the Boston
Sheeting of the American genealogical
tpciety in September last which we at
Snded. Mr.. Glib is we'll known to US,
I'D we know him to be very cautious
.hd guarded in all his statements about
lew fruits. He seems to have no en-
flIusiasm, and upon matters about
Which we have both been familiar, we
lave found him undertaking rather
ian overstating the facts. Some have
laid that the Bessemiauka is lis good
Is Flemish Beauty. When questioned
z,n this, Mr.. Glib would not quite agree
ID it. He said it was Smaller pear,
Dot buttery or melting, but rather of
he BergamOt type,-very good to eat,
uicy and sufficiently soft aud good fla
'Fored-"a great deal better than no
pear at ALL" Mr.. Heinrich Goegginger
.pf Riga, Russia, says of this pear: ''It
Is of medium size, color, glass green,
u maturity yellOwish green, and later
>Rreenish yellow flesh yellOwish white,
very juicy, similar in taste to {; fine
melon very good market and table
fruit. Season, September. The tree
grows to a very large size ; it grows
quickly and bears we'll" According
ito the same authority, the Sapieganka
lis also of the BergamOt type, and
might be mistaken for the summer
BergamOt. At wilma, Russia, Budd
aud Glib saw perfectly healthy trees
over forty years old, "loaded with as
perfect fruit as we ever saw in any |
country" Mr.. Budd says: "rhough |
not as large, it is equal in quality To
Flemish Beauty. When ripe it is light
yellow, with Il red cheek; season, Sep |
tember."
In reply to questions by his ClledO
mia correspondent the DIR. says that he
has none of the trees for sale but this
fall he cut few cions from the largest
trees of the two varieties he has and il